Adobe PDF is the best format for sharing documents because they are compact, the formatting is preserved and most computers / mobile devices / ebook readers can easily handle PDF files.
Here you’ll learn how to do just about everything with PDF documents without buying Adobe Acrobat. You can edit PDF files, combine multiple files as one, add signature images to PDF pages, fill PDF forms online, add clickable hyperlinks to existing PDF documents and so much more.
Adobe PDF Guide and Tutorial
Q: First things first - How do I create PDF documents on my computer without Adobe Acrobat?
A: Get a copy of DoPDF - it installs as a virtual printer driver on your desktop just like Acrobat and lets you print PDF files from any Windows application including images, documents, emails, websites, etc.
Q: I don’t want to install software just for converting a bunch of documents to PDF. Do you know of any alternative?
A: Upload your documents to Google Docs via the browser and then export them as PDF files. Simple.
Q: A client just sent me a PowerPoint presentation by email. Since I am travelling without the laptop and my mobile phone cannot read PPT files, what should I do?
A: Forward that email message (with the PPT attachment) to pdf@koolwire.com - they’ll convert the presentation to PDF and email it back to you immediately. Most smartphones and web enabled mobile phones can read PDF files.
Q: How do I directly save a web page as PDF without having to save that page as an HTML file first?
A: Go to PrimoPDF, type the URL of the web page and they’ll send you a PDF version of that page via email.
Q: How can I convert PDF files into other formats like Word documents, images, HTML web pages, etc.
A: You can upload the PDF document to Zamzar and convert it any formats like doc, html, png, txt or rtf (rich text format). Alternatively, you can convert PDF to HTML using Gmail.
Q: How do I create a single PDF package by merging files of different formats.
A: Try Loop PDF - it’s a free service that lets you combine multiple documents, images and even web pages into a single PDF file.
Q: How do I merge two or more PDF files into one? Can I also change the page order?
A: You can grab PDF Fill - it’s a versatility PDF editing tool that lets you combine PDFs from the desktop. PDF Fill can also help you rearrange pages in any order or for rotating pages inside a PDF.
Q: I want to extract some text from a PDF and use it in my Word document. What is the best option?
A: Go to PDFTextOnline and upload your PDF - it will extract text from the first 10 pages of your PDF document (to start) and will also show the PDF bookmarks, document properties, and form data (if available).
Q: I can’t get the above trick to work since I have a scanned PDF.
A: You can extract text from scanned PDF documents with Google Search. It’s not an instant process but probably the only free solution we know of.
Q: I have some restricted PDF documents on my computer in the sense that they neither allow printing nor can you select text with the mouse.
A: Get the PDF Unlocker - its a free Windows utility that will remove all common restrictions around a PDF file without requiring any passwords. Alternatively, you may use the online service at ensode.net that will remove all the printing or copying/pasting related restrictions from your PDF.
Q: Some PDF files on our company’s intranet are protected by a password that no one can remember anymore. Can we still open them?
A: Check this article - How to Open Password Protected PDF
Q: I am looking for a service that would let visitors download my articles as PDF files.
A: Add the Web2PDF button anywhere in your website - it converts web pages to PDF files on demand and also keeps a track of all PDF conversion related activities on your website.
Q: Someone sent me a PDF document in Chinese but I can read only English?
A: You can easily translate PDF files using Google Translate and Zoho Viewer.
Q: How can I add annotations or text notes to some of my PDF documents?
A: Get the PDF-X Viewer - it’s like Adobe Reader but with some extra features. You can add comments, annotations or even paste images to your PDF pages. You can also add annotations, call-outs and text to your PDFs online with PDF Escape.
Q: How do I read PDF files online without desktop software?
A: You can open PDF documents in the browser with PDFMeNot without requiring any software. See more options.
Q: Can I fill PDF forms online without Acrobat Reader?
A: Sure, go to PDF Filler, upload the PDF form and start typing. PDF typewriter works by converting PDF forms into images and allowing the user to type right on top of the images.
Q: How can I add watermarks or even my (real) signature to a PDF document?
A: First draw your signature in Paint (or other photo editing tool) and save it as an image. Make sure you crop all the blank portion that lies outside the signature. Now open the PDF document inside PDF-X Viewer and copy-paste that watermark / signature image. Simple.
Q: I have a PDF book that contains some 200 pages. Is there a way to extract selected pages from that book and save it as another PDF.
A: You can either PDF Merge or PDF SAM (split and merge) to extract pages from a PDF document.
Q: How can I protect my PDF documents with a password?
A: Upload your PDF file to PDF Hammer, set a security password and export it as PDF again.
Q: A PDF document has lot of links but I can’t click them as they are in plain text. How do I make them clickable?
A: Go to PDF Escape, upload the PDF and then place hyperlinks anywhere on the page.
Q: Which online service(s) would you recommend for uploading PDF files on the web?
A: My favorite is Issuu - they have built an excellent PDF viewer inside a beautiful interface. You can also use Issuu to embed PDF files in your own website. Next recommendation is Scribd - it’s a more popular service so your PDF document would get more eye balls.
Also see: Subscribe to Blogs as PDF Newsletter
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/software/adobe-pdf-guide-tutorial/6296/
web: http://www.labnol.org/ email: amit@labnol.org
Reader Comments
excellent article - thanks!!
Written by jesse on 12.31.08
Awesome collection of PDF related pointers.
Written by DWiner on 12.31.08
You can also try PDFtk builder (http://www.angusj.com/pdftkb/) (available as PortableApps also) for splitting or merging PDF files. it is frontend for pdftk (http://www.accesspdf.com/pdftk/)
Written by Diabolic Preacher on 12.31.08
What about modifying existing PDF’s for a tablet? Any cool softwares that you might know of/recommend?
Written by harsha on 12.31.08
Pdf files are most definitely not compact, they’re massively bloated.
Most ebook readers do not easily handle pdf files, they are usually badly formatted for any small screen and therefore useless.
This kind of article is why people keep publishing pdf files thinking it’s a good idea when it isn’t.
Written by Jude on 12.31.08
Thanks for the list, it’s very useful.
I’ve been looking forward to free PDF solution and got it here.
Written by buchin on 12.31.08
and what is the best pdf to doc conversion tool ?
Written by reed on 12.31.08
A great list.. thanks Amit
Written by TechTrendsDot on 12.31.08
awesome tutorial!!!
thank you for the PDF FAQ.
Written by vetweb on 12.31.08
This is an exhaustive list of PDF utilities and very nicely presented. Thanks and greatly appreciate the effort.
Written by Bhooshan on 12.31.08
Awesome article. Just wanted to let you know about a cool website made for PDF’s. link allows you to submit PDF’s about any topic and it automatically goes onto an RSS feed and keeps track of the number of downloads.
Written by Hollywood Hawk on 01.01.09
WOW!!! That’s a great all in one PDF guide.
I don’t need Acrobat anymore ;-)
Written by Vijay on 01.01.09
Never thought pdf has this much popularity that so many free online applications exists.
Unarguably best PDF guide ever seen.
Written by Rohan on 01.01.09
Instead of using Google to get text from your PDF, just get some free scanner software that has OCR technology. If the program is good, you can run the OCR on a pdf, not just on whatever is scanned.
Written by Caleb on 01.01.09
Great PDF tutorial. Appreciate it. Thanks Amit
Written by prashant on 01.01.09
One of the best (open source) PDF software for Windows remains PDFCreator
link
Written by pascalv on 01.01.09
The Wikipedia for PDF’s is here ;)
Written by Praveen Ratna Deepak on 01.01.09
Adobe PDF is of great use nowadays. Good thing there are step by step instructions to use PDF files. These guides are very useful especially to those who are new to Adobe pdf.
Written by sports on 01.03.09
Thx! Nice guide!
Maybe another interesting question (if at all possible):
Q: How can I automatically create a table of content in the bookmark section? –> for example when you have a .doc file that you convert to pdf but you want to have a toc as bookmarks.
Written by Blue on 01.04.09
Great tutorial! But i still have a problem: how is it possible to add files to an (existing) pdf document (and without additional software)? Or is it possible to do so with pdf-creator? Thx for any comment!
Written by Shadow 2009 on 01.09.09
Great resource Amit, thanks for compiling it. We’ve just developed an online PDF Web Form creator that readers of this article might be interested in. It lets you build an embeddable Web Form front end that downloads as a PDF when submitted - link
Written by Chris on 01.09.09
thank you for this great resource!
I’m off to try tohe “add signature to pdf” one.
Written by paydex on 01.11.09
As a new iPhone user I am still looking for a compatible PDF viewer that can utilize PDF reflow technology to fit the text within the width of the screen (so I don’t have to scroll sideways all the time!).
The alternative I’m doing now is reformatting PDFs to screen width in Acrobat Professional, and then loading them on my phone…
Any and all _relevant_ suggestions(i.e.: that specifically address the reflowing of text) would be much appreciated!
…VERY helpful article in all other respects!
Written by MLG on 02.18.09
I am trying to put a link on my website that forum members can click on to open up a PDF file.
Anyone know how to do this?
Written by San on 02.25.09
how do i convert text on an excel sheet to a pdf format?
Written by gitashree on 03.03.09
How to upload a pdf files to zamzar as you said, to be able to edit a pdf file.
Written by NAGARAJ.H.S. on 03.12.09
Hi! Excelent tips. thanks.
I want to do this: for example I have several pdf files in a folder in my web server and I want to print them from my web page (aspx) clicking on a print button, but printing them directly from the client without the print dialog window. It is possible to do so? Thanks
Written by chuybar on 04.22.09
I include pictures in files and when I change them to pdf, the file size is huge. I have compressed the pictures but the file is still big. How can I make the file size smaller so that I can send it by email? Living in Zambia, as I do, some of the recipients of my emails are still on dial-up.
Written by Gill on 04.26.09